Before we jump into how you can access the game itself, it’s worth mentioning here that you should be running the latest version of Facebook Messenger on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. If you haven’t updated already then you can do so by heading over to the App Store or the Google Play Store. It’s also worth mentioning here that the Facebook Messenger is absolutely free to download and use, and we highly recommend that you install it onto your smartphone or tablet right away if you happen to make use of Facebook on a daily basis.

With that out of the way, let’s jump into some basketball madness on Facebook Messenger for iOS and Android!

1. Launch the Facebook Messenger app from your home screen.

2. Load up any conversation, or start a new one with any friend or family member.

3. Select the ‘basketball’ emoji from the keyboard and send it to the other person.

4. Now tap on the basketball emoji you just sent, which will launch the basketball game itself.

5. Use flick gestures to play the game. Make sure the ball goes into the hoop to score a point.

While it may not be the ‘best’ game in the world, but it’s worth knowing about, especially if you happen to be out and about with no game installed on your smartphone or tablet, but instead, have Messenger onboard.

The hidden basketball game isn’t the only entertaining title Messenger packs. You’ll be pleased to learn that you can also play chess on Facebook’s IM platform as well, and you can learn more about accessing it by going here.

We sorta wish the game wasn’t hidden away from plain view like that and was instead available to play at a moment’s notice. But still, we’re sure Facebook has its reasons to keep things that way, and we absolutely can’t complain any further, given the fact that Messenger is a pure messaging platform, nothing more, nothing less.

Be sure to let us know in the comments section below what you think about this neat basketball game inside Messenger. And also, do share your high score with us as well.